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Since I had some leftover Durum YW starter from my last bake I decided to make English Muffins again. I followed the same recipe I used the last time but this time the starter was 100% Durum flour and I used my European style flour from KAF for the main dough. Similar to last time I used Greek Yogurt (2%) and I added some Cheddar cheese as well.

The end results were exactly what I expected with a nice open crumb and flavor as good as any English Muffin I have had before.

620 grams European Style Flour (KAF or use Bread Flour with a little Whole Wheat)

300 grams Greek Plain Yogurt (I used Fage 2%)

235 grams Water (85-90 degrees F.)

50 grams Cheese (I used grated Cheddar. Add in final mix)

26 grams Sugar

10 grams Salt

12 grams Baking Soda

Semolina or Cornmeal for Dusting

Directions

Mix flour, starter and yogurt in your mixing bowl and mix for 1-2 minutes to combine.

Cover the bowl and let it sit out at room temperature overnight or for at least 9-10 hours.

The next morning add the rest of the ingredients and mix for a minute. Knead the dough either with your mixer or by hand for around 4 minutes, adding additional flour if necessary. Next roll out the dough to about 3/4″ thickness on your work surface. You will have to put some bench flour on the work surface to prevent the dough from sticking. Using 4″ biscuit cutter or can, cut the muffins out and place on a pan lined with parchment paper dusted with corn meal or semolina flour. You should end up with 5-6 muffins. If necessary you can combine the scraps and roll out again but you may need to let it rest before rolling.

Cover the muffins with a clean misted or floured towel and let rest for 1 hour at room temperature.

Heat your griddle or heavy skillet to medium or around 350 degrees and when ready to cook spray some cooking spray on the cooking surface before placing the English Muffins in the pan.

Cover the pan to create some steam and let cook for around 5 minutes or until the bottoms are nice and brown. Flip and cook another 5 minutes and remove to a baking rack to cool.

I just refreshed my Yeast Water starter earlier in the week after returning home from a long business trip. I have had great success mixing the Yeast Water starter with a traditional sourdough starter so I decided to follow a similar path. To make things interesting and because I happen to love durum breads I decided to make a 65% hydration YW starter using only durum flour and for the sourdough starter I converted some of my AP starter first to a 100% hydration starter using durum flour and sprouted whole wheat. I built both starters up in 3 stages over 2 days to make sure I had nice and lively starters. I didn’t quite think through the amounts correctly so I ended up with a lot of extra starters. Not too worry as I’m making some YW Durum English Muffins tonight withe the extra starter. Feel free to adjust the amounts below if you don’t want any left-over starter.

The end result was a nice open flavorful crumb with a crisp and chewy crust. You can taste the Parmesan cheese but it’s a subtle flavor and does not overpower. This is a nice hearty bread to have with a nice Italian meal or a tasty sandwich.

Enjoy!

Procedure

Yeast Water Starter Build 1

60 grams Durum Flour (KAF) (note: this is not the same as Semolina Flour which is for pasta)

60 grams Yeast Water Starter

Mix the flour and Yeast Water in a bowl until thoroughly combined. Cover the bowl and let it sit at room temperature for around 6-10 hours. The starter should almost double when ready to proceed to build 2.

Build 2

Add ingredients below to starter from above and mix until incorporated. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 6-10 hours.

100 grams Durum Flour

100 grams Yeast Water

Build 3

Add flour to starter from above and mix until incorporated. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 4 hours or until bubbly and either use immediately or put in the refrigerator for the next day.

100 grams Durum Flour

10 grams Yeast Water

(Note: I made extra starter since I wanted to use this for another bake.)

Sourdough Starter Build 1

63 grams AP Starter

30 grams Durum Flour

33 grams Sprouted Whole Wheat Flour (You can use regular Whole Wheat)

75 grams Water

Mix the flour, starter and water in a bowl until thoroughly combined. Cover the bowl and let it sit at room temperature for around 6-8 hours. The starter should almost double when ready to proceed to build 2.

Sourdough Starter Build 2

60 grams Durum Flour

40 grams Sprouted Whole Wheat

100 grams Water

123 grams Sautéed Onions (sautéed in olive oil)

Mix the flour and water with the starter from build 1. Cover and let sit at room temperature for 6-8 hours until doubled and nice and bubbly.

Sourdough Starter Build 3

62 grams Durum Flour

40 grams Sprouted Whole Wheat

Add the flour to the starter from build 2 and let it rest covered for 6 hours until bubbly and nearly doubled.

Main Dough Ingredients

200 grams Yeast Water Durum Starter from Above

225 Sourdough Starter from Above

250 grams French Style Flour (KAF) (You can use AP Flour or Bread Flour to substitute)

Build your Yeast Water levain and Sourdough starter the day before you are ready to bake.

The evening before you want to bake, mix the flours and the water. Mix on low-speed in your stand mixer or by hand for about 1 minute until the ingredients are combined. Let the dough autolyse for about 20 minutes to an hour.

Next add both levains and the oil along with the salt and mix for 3 minutes on low. After 3 minutes add the cheese and mix for about 1 minute until incorporated. The dough will come together and be slightly sticky. Place the dough in a slightly oiled bowl and do a couple of stretch and folds. Cover the bowl and let it rest for 10-15 minutes. Do another stretch and fold in the bowl and let it rest another 10-15 minutes. Do another stretch and fold and let the dough sit out in the covered bowl for another 1.5 hours. Place the dough in the refrigerator until ready to bake the next day.

When ready to bake take the dough out and leave it covered in your bowl for 1.5 to 2 hours. Next divide the dough into 2 loaves and either place in a banneton or from into batards and let them rest in floured couches for 1.5 – 2 hours.

About one hour before ready to bake, set your oven for 500 degrees F.and make sure you prepare it for steam. I have a baking stone on the top shelf and the bottom and use a heavy-duty rimmed baking pan that I pour 1 cup of boiling water into right as I put the loaves into the oven.

Score the loaves as desired.

When ready to bake place the loaves into your oven on your oven stone with steam and lower the temperature immediately to 450 degrees. It should take around 30 minutes to bake until the breads are golden brown and reached an internal temperature of 200 – 205 degrees F.

Let the loaves cool down for at least 2 hours or so before eating as desired.

I just returned from a 2 week business trip to China and after refreshing my starters I decided to make a coffee flavored bread that also was rich in multi-grains. I have had great success using soakers in this style bread in the past so this was no different I used malted rye berries, spelt kernels, buckwheat groats and soft white wheat berries all soaked in 240 grams of chocolate raspberry truffle flavored coffee.

For the starter I used my white 65% hydration starter and added coffee, pumpernickel flour and white rye. To continue with the all coffee theme I also used coffee in the main dough along with an assortment of flours plus some dehydrated onions that I mixed in with the coffee before adding to the dough.

The end result was nice dark, rich, moist and coffee flavored bread. If you don’t like coffee you will run away screaming from this one, but if you can’t get enough Java in your system, give this one a try.

Soaker

30 grams Buckwheat Groats (bought at Whole Foods)

30 grams Spelt Kernels (Berries…not sure which)

30 grams Malted Rye Berries

20 grams Soft White Wheat Berries

240 grams Hot Coffee (I used Chocolate Raspberry Truffle)

Mix coffee in a bowl with other ingredients and let sit covered at room temperature for 24 hours.

Starter

71 grams Seed (Mine is 65% AP Flour Starter)

142 grams AP Flour

85 grams Pumpernickel Flour

70 grams White Rye Flour

151 grams Coffee (85 – 90 degrees F.)

Mix seed with coffee to break up for a few seconds and then mix in flour until the starter forms a smooth dough consistency. Put it in a lightly oiled bowl and loosely cover and leave at room temperature for at least 10 hours. The starter should double in volume. Put the starter in the refrigerator for up to 1-2 days or use it immediately.

All of the Soaker from above (make sure to drain the soaker thoroughly)

Procedure

I mixed the flours together with all the coffee except for 50 grams and let them autolyes for 30 minutes. I then added the levain, oil and the soaker and the rest of the coffee with the salt and mixed on speed #1 for 1 minute and #2 for 4 minutes. I then did a stretch and fold, rested the dough uncovered for 10 minutes. I then did another stretch and fold, covered the dough and let it rest for 10 minutes. I did one more stretch and fold and put it in a lightly oiled bowl for 2 hours. I then put it in the fridge overnight.

The next day I let the dough sit out at room temperature for 2 hours. After 2 hours I formed it into loaves and put them in floured bannetons and let them rise covered for 2 hours.

Score the loaves as desired and prepare your oven for baking with steam.

I then baked on my oven stone with steam at 450 degrees until both loaves were golden brown and reached an internal temperature of 200 – 210 degrees F.

Let it cool on a bakers rack for at least 2 hours or longer before diving in.